2014/01/27 by Mojdeh Bayat · 3 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Disability Rights and Representation #Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport #Child Abuse and Trauma
paper · doi:10.1111/jir.12118
openalex publication_date 2014/01/27 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
BACKGROUND: Killing and abuse of children with disabilities are covert phenomena, occurring in some developing regions, such as in some African countries. Similar to the practice of ritual killing of spirit children in Ghana, the phenomenon of the snake child in Cote d'Ivoire (known as Ivory Coast), is the ritual abandonment or killing of children with intellectual disability (ID). METHOD: This study is a qualitative ethnographic investigation into understanding this phenomenon. Three major questions were of interest: (1) Who are the snake children? (2) How are these children viewed and treated? (3) What are ways of changing negative attitudes towards children with developmental disabilities? RESULTS: The practices of killing, abandonment and abuse of children with disabilities take place in Cote d'Ivoire today, although the extent is not known. CONCLUSION: Killing and abuse of children with ID are explained within the context of indigenous African religions, animism and folk culture. The concept of disability 'otherness' and inferiority is also explored as a framework for reflection and ethical debate.